Orthodontic pain
Diode LLLT for orthodontic pain systematic review and meta-analysis
Ren C, McGrath C, Yang Y. Lasers in Medical Science. 2015.
A diode LLLT meta-analysis found reduced orthodontic pain versus placebo, but methodological weaknesses were substantial.
Evidence grade
low
Effect direction
positive
Panel relevance
not-panel-replicable
Key findings
- The review included 14 RCTs with 659 participants.
- Diode LLLT reduced orthodontic pain by 39% compared with placebo groups.
- Most RCTs were rated high risk of bias, mainly for blinding and allocation concealment.
Protocol details
| Wavelengths | Not reported nm |
|---|---|
| Irradiance | Not reported mW/cm2 |
| Fluence | Not reported J/cm2 |
| Session time | Not reported minutes |
| Frequency | Dental procedure-specific |
| Duration | Short-term orthodontic pain windows |
| Treatment area | Orthodontic dental targets |
| Device type | Diode low-level laser therapy |
Caveats
- Dental laser protocols should be delivered by dental professionals.
- Insufficient evidence to strongly support or refute clinical effectiveness.